People & Business

Chris Dickson, the man who won the biggest fraud case in history this year, is leaving the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to become the most senior regulator of accountants in Britain. Mr Dickson will succeed Michael Chance as Executive Counsel of the Accountants' Joint Disciplinary Scheme (JDS) next January.

Mr Chance, a former policeman, has spent four years helping to get the fledgling JDS up and running. He was once in the running to head up the SFO, having helped found the agency in 1988. The JDS job was described by one observer yesterday as consisting of "lurking around the Square Mile, and leaping out to administer six of the best to accountants whose professional conduct has been found wanting".

Mr Dickson has been senior assistant director of the SFO during some of the agency's biggest trials. The biggest was that of Abbas Gokal, the Pakistan-born shipping magnate who was jailed this year for his part in a $1.2bn fraud involving Bank of Credit and Commerce International. The prosecution, put together by Mr Dickson, also resulted in the longest sentence for fraud - 14 years - and the heaviest compensation order, of pounds 2.94m.

No doubt the appointment of this Belfast-born lawyer to the JDS will send a suitable shiver through the ranks of the City's bean counters.

Farewell then Sir Bruce Pattullo, governor of Bank of Scotland until next May's annual meeting and a beacon of sanity in this workaholic world. After 18 years in the hot seat, he tells me there are no plans to hop on the non-exec gravy train when he passes his ledger on to booze-and- shopping-trolley laird, Sir Alistair Grant.

Sir Bruce plans to visit his children in Canada and Austria and his "modest little house" in Spain, as well as work on his backhand lob. This will keep him out of mischief, he thinks. Hob-nobbing in Hong Kong recently, he was taken aside by someone who knows a thing or two about stepping out of the limelight. George Bush told Sir Bruce the worst thing about not being President of the United States any more was getting used to being "Barbara's husband" and "the father of the Governor of Texas".

Field-Marshal The Lord Inge GCB, DL, is joining Racal as a non-executive director. He should be useful to the company, which is deeply involved in military technology, since he was Chief of the Defence Staff, Britain's top military post, until last April. Lord Inge, 62, joins the electronics company following a long and distinguished career in the armed forces. He was commissioned into the Green Howards in 1956, and served in Hong Kong, Malaya, Libya, West Germany, Northern Ireland and England before assuming command of Northern Army Group and the British Army on the Rhine on his promotion to General in 1989. He became Chief of the General Staff in 1992 and Chief of the Defence Staff two years later.

Granville, an independent investment bank specialising in information technology, has been signing up a colourful team of people over the past few months. Yesterday Chris Conway, chairman and chief executive of Digital Equipment, joined as a non-executive director. Other recent signings include Leonard Licht, the legendary fund manager and former Mercury Asset Management star, who is acting as a consultant to the group. Jane Tozer, a former IBM heavyweight and founder of Softwright, a software company, is providing strategic advice, while Charles Tilley, a former finance director for Hambros, is the finance and new business director.

David Davies has gone from Mickey Mouse to condoms in one leap. Mr Davies left The Disney Store, Europe, in May, and is about to succeed James Tyrrell as finance director of London International Group (LIG), makers of Durex condoms and Marigold household gloves. Mr Tyrrell is retiring in August next year and will hand over most of the executive reins to Mr Davies this November.

Michael Moore, chairman of LIG, said yesterday: "James Tyrrell played an essential role in restructuring LIG, bringing it back from the brink of collapse in 1993."

LIG's previous management had diversified into fast photo processing, and the company nearly went bust in 1993. Nick Hodges was put in as chief executive to turn LIG around, and he imported Mr Tyrrell from Abbey National. Together they launched a successful pounds 115m rescue rights issue and revamped the balance sheet.

Mr Davies has a solid record as an international financial bod, having held senior positions at BOC Group and Grand Metropolitan.

Burmah Castrol's Tim Stevenson is to succeed Jonathan Fry as chief executive of the independent lubricants and chemicals group. Mike Dearden, currently chief executive of Burmah Castrol's chemicals group, will take over from Mr Stevenson as chief executive of the lubricants division. In a shake- up following Mr Fry's succession to the chairmanship, Jamie Pike will succeed Mr Dearden and join the board of Burmah from February next year.